Russia's Promsvyazbank accused of fraud in Cyprus

In the district court of the city of Nicosia, a criminal case was sent, in which the main defendant is the Russian Promsvyazbank. The first meeting of the criminal board is scheduled for September 29. Today at noon the bailiff gave the bank a notice.

Promsvyazbank has a branch in Cyprus and, according to local laws, as a legal entity is accused of fraudulent misappropriation of the business of a group of Russian companies "Ramfud" from its former owner - the Dutch company United Investors Company B.V.

According to the prosecution, Promsvyazbank entered into an agreement with Cypriot company Maxoton Holding Limited, a client and debtor of the bank, to seize the majority of shares of Ramfud LLC and OOO OOP Holding. However, the bank himself told law enforcement agencies and the court that he is not aware of the ultimate beneficiary of this transaction.

Now, Promsvyazbank will either be forced to disclose information about the client company, or to seek justification in connection with the lack of evidence of the prosecution. However, even in the latter case, as lawyers note, sanctions are not excluded from the Cypriot and Russian regulators. The conviction, in turn, may lead to further harassment of both the bank itself and its leadership for an even heavier charge of money laundering, which is 14 years in prison under Cypriot laws.

As lawyers note, a large Russian bank became the first defendant in a European court on charges of committing a felony. According to the chairman of the Moscow Bar Association, Georgy Zubovsky, such a process creates a precedent of criminal prosecution of Russian offshore capitals and, most unpleasantly, of backbone Russian enterprises as "criminal" organizations. "And this is not just a possible denial of a banking license. This is an opportunity to use any methods in the fight against Russian companies in the period of European sanctions, "the lawyer said.